


with a nice chianti

by thenewdarling



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, give me angst or give me death, i'm weak to the thousands-year romance, silence of the lambs but make it doctor who fashion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26478070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewdarling/pseuds/thenewdarling
Summary: The Doctor has trapped the Master in the Zero Room, but the Master has locked the TARDIS controls behind a password. Stalemate, with the Master imprisoned.The premise we're going for is "Silence of the Lambs but make it Doctor Who Fashion"
Relationships: The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who)
Kudos: 5





	with a nice chianti

**Author's Note:**

> Far future/soft reboot - I fancast the Doctor as Lenora Crichton, and the Master as Sheridan Smith. You can imagine whoever you like of course.
> 
> Last Nanowrimo I wrote the best part of a season of Doctor Who, and I needed new content quickly for Glasgow Fanfiction Open Mic NIght September 2020 - so I quickly cobbled the screenplay format of a few scenes I liked into prose.
> 
> (The companion's name is Isla - I don't think you really need any other background.)

The Doctor put a hand on Isla's shoulder before sending her in. "Before you go in there, I want you to understand who she is."

"She's... another Time Lord? Like you?"

"Not just any Time Lord. She's my oldest... well, maybe friend isn't the word."

"What, like an ex?"

"I mean.... not exactly? I don't know if Earth languages have a word for it."

"Try me."

"You ever meet someone who you have really strong on-off feelings for that you dated when you were really young, but thousands of years have passed and you're both still kind of obsessed with each other, but of you is an evil murderer?"

"Ohhh yeah. I had one of those. Her name was Cameron."

The Doctor looked bewildered.

"I was seventeen. She had a motorbike. I think she's in prison now."

Isla had a moment of wistfulness. The Doctor clapped a hand to her face.

"Isla, I need you to be serious right now."

"O... k? Doctor, what's the matter?"

"She is the most intelligent person I've ever met. And she's not got a shred of morality in her. She's killed millions, for sport."

Isla looked confused. "How could you like someone like that?"

The Doctor slumped. "It's complicated. We've been to war together. Had our hearts broken together. Our friendship is older than the human race. And she wasn't always like this."

Isla put a hand on her shoulder. "I get it. It's hard, when someone so close..."

"I just want you to promise that you won't let her get into your head. She can be _very_ persuasive."

Isla nodded. And the Doctor opened the door for her.

#

Isla could feel the tension in the air as she stepped into the Zero Room. Even from the other side of the plexiglas, the Master exuded a nervous energy that set off her fight-or-flight response.

The Master had her hands pressed against the glass, and was hanging off it. Watching her cross the room with a blank, empty stare. Like a zoo exhibit.

Isla held the cup of tea she was supposed to be bringing the prisoner, and tried not to let her hand shake.

"Back again so soon?" the Master said. "Problems with the motor?"

Isla smiled, performatively. "How did you guess?" As a power move, she took a sip of the tea rather than handing it over. "Come on. Have at it. What's the password?"

"Maybe if you give me that tea, I'll be nice and tell you."

Isla slurped the tea loudly for effect. "Nah. I'd need to work out how to get it into your cell through that glass, and that's not a good idea."

"Oh, if you're the _bad_ cop, I've got nothing to worry about."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Oh come on," the Master stepped back, theatrically flopping onto the chair in the corner. "Surely you must get it. It's a simple game of chicken. The Doctor will break the stalemate before I do."

"That doesn't seem like a very good bet. You're stuck in an empty cell, the Doctor has the whole TARDIS."

"You don't know her like I do. It's in her nature to run. Give her a galaxy to play in, and she'll be pounding at the edges trying to get into the next one."

Isla thought about this, and took another sip of the tea-

WHAM. The Master leapt out of the chair and banged on the Plexiglas loudly. Isla jumped, spilling tea all down her front. 

The Master cackled. "Ahhh see? You play the confident interrogator, but you're just a scared little girl in there. Aww, wee lamb."

The Master looked at her then, really looked at her. Isla squirmed, like she was being undressed.

"Oh, I see you Isla McDonald. You have something of the Doctor about you. Free spirit, world peace... but you're broken inside aren't you?"

Isla looked at her, unwavering.

"The way you carry yourself like you know what you're doing, hiding the hurt? The fear you've done everything wrong..."

Isla said nothing.

"Who did you hurt to get that way, I wonder? What pain did you inflict to make you say 'I am never doing that again'..."

Isla swallowed.

The Master smiled. "Did you feel bad when they cried?"

"You shut the hell up. Shut up and give me the password you HORRIBLE WOMAN."

"Oh! Touched a nerve there, didn't I?"

They stopped. Isla was breathing heavily through her nose.

"Ok," Isla said. "Thank you for the psychoanalysis. Are you going to give us the password or am I wasting my time?"

"Oh I rather think you're wasting your time, dear. But please feel free to keep trying. Playing with you is so much fun."

And then, she took a sip of Isla's tea.

Isla looked down. When did she-?

The Master screwed her face up. "Oh my god, there's enough sugar in that to stun a rhino! How do you not have diabetes?"

"How did you do that? _Master, how did you do that?_ "

The Master grinned. "Say my name again."

The Doctor's voice spoke over a tannoy. "Isla, can I borrow you for a moment?"

Isla stepped back towards the door, not taking her eyes off the Master, not for a moment. She had to fumble for the door handle to get out without looking.

The Master raised the mug in a silent 'cheers' as she left.

#

"You shouldn't have threatened to hurt my friend," the Doctor said, firmly.

"Always with the Earth girls. But then, they've always been a weakness of yours."

"Why do you have to make it weird? It's not weird for me to have friends other than you, you know. Most people do it."

"Touchy," the Master said. "I wasn't a fan of your TARDIS' new look by the way. All a bit... Liberace's underwear."

The Doctor closed her eyes and pressed on her sinuses.

"Come on Doctor," the Master said. "Time to let me out."

"I need the password."

"Ugh! I'm bored. Are you happy now? You've bored me."

"Well, prepare to be bored for a lot longer because without the password to the flight matrix, I _can't_ let you out."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find a way. You're the Doctor, this is the TARDIS. I can wait forever."

"So can I," the Doctor said.

"Are you sure?" the Master said, and then she smiled. "How long have you got? How long has _Isla_ got? Eighty years? And that's being generous. Average, 60? And she's Scottish so let's make that an even 40."

The Doctor sighed.

"Come on... let me out."

"You have so much faith in me."

The Master smiled, lovingly. "I've seen you do such things..." And then she sighed. "Can't we just go back to how things were?"

"It's like you keep saying. We're time travellers. You can't just undo things. Actions have consequences."

"You still believe there's good in me."

"I've spent so long, thousands of years, trying to get through to you. And, sometimes I think I've done it. But you always turn around and ruin it."

"It's not fair!" The Master banged on the plexiglas, tears welling up. "It's not fair Doctor, they did this to me! They put that drum beat in my head and _made_ me this way!"

The Doctor sniffed. "Yeah. Yeah, that's true. And it was evil, what they did." She leaned forward, so close they would be able to feel each other's breath if not for the glass. "But that was _millennia_ ago. And since then, you've murdered _billions_. Whole planets, burned up and gone. And you've enjoyed it. So you don't get to play the victim. You are not your trauma, for good or for ill."

The Master squeezed her eyes to stop the tears.

The Doctor was crying too, but composed. "Just get a fucking therapist!"

"Where do I find a therapist when I'm a 4000 year old alien, and the only other member of my species is you??"

There was a moment of silence, and then they were both laughing through their tears.

The Doctor put her hand on the glass, and so did the Master. "We are so messed up, you and I."

"Yeah..." the Master said, wiping a tear from her cheek. "See? Why can't it be like this all the time?"

"It _is_ like this all the time. You in jail, and me waiting for you to break out and go kill a bunch of people."

The Master stiffened, her face darkening. "Yeah. Well. You know. One does need a hobby." And she stepped away from the glass, and went to go lie down on the bed.

The Doctor stood in silence, and watched her for a moment, then left.


End file.
